Thread: Quotation that got me interested in straight razors

That Franklin fellow sounds like he had a lot on the ball. Wonder he never amounted to anything...

Originally Posted by JoeBass

That Franklin fellow sounds like he had a lot on the ball. Wonder he never amounted to anything...

Sarcasm much appreciated.

I went with my daughter's 5th grade class to Philadelphia a few years back and I learned the one answer to just about ANY question about Philadelphia's history
that is likely to be correct is "Benjamin Franklin." More often than not. He was a true renaissance and self-made man.

Don't want to drag the thread too far off course, but Franklin's autobiography is a great read. Especially if you're interested in the minutiae of early american life.

Originally Posted by Saxon

Don't want to drag the thread too far off course, but Franklin's autobiography is a great read. Especially if you're interested in the minutiae of early American life.

Indeed, Franklin is a cornucopeia of information about American colonial, revolutionary era and early national period life. His writings are even a volume in the highly regarded Library of America series.

What isn't often known about Franklin is that he had an illegitimate son who was a Loyalist during the American Revolution. He and his son became estranged to the point of Franklin having him arrested and thrown into one of the worst prisons in the colonies at that time. It was a hole in the ground--literally. After the Revolution Franklin and his son never spoke to each other again. In fact, the son evacuated with the British and resettled in England.

The quote that got me interested?........

"Real Men Shave With a Str8 Razor"

I joined SRP three years ago, but cut myself quite badly and "went away" for a while. I shaved about six times With the straight and than gave It up. Rightly or wrongly I consider myself a new straight shaver.

My 100 posts are since starting back as a straight shaver.

Barry

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Hello Barry. Am I missing something? Why are people welcoming you? You have over 100 posts and joined almost 3 years ago...???

I like the quote - it is pretty much the "give a man a fish...." proverb rejiggered and expanded for shaving, and that has always been one of my favourite sayings.

James.

EDIT: Here's the quote that got me interested in straight razors: "I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest." John Keats.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I like the quote - it is pretty much the "give a man a fish...."

Yep,
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day"
"Teach a man to fish and he'll spend all day in a boat drinking beer"

Originally Posted by bman40

I'm not sure where I saw this (it might well haev been here on SRP) but this quote was always at teh back of my mind when I was buying another batch of DE blades on line, and always wondering if I COULD shave with a straight razor:

If you teach a poor young man to shave himself, and keep his razor in order, you may contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving him a thousand guineas. This sum may be soon spent, the regret only remaining of having foolishly consumed it; but in the other case, he escapes the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull razors.
Benjamin Franklin (1886)

The idea of self-sufficiency that this hobby promises really appeals to me. As a child of the Cold War, growing up with the threat of nuclear holocaust hanging over us, things one coudl learn to do 'after the apocalypse' have always appealed to me: cooking, baking, knitting, coffee roasting, wood turning, carpentry, and now, maintaining a razor.

This way, I can be torn to pieces by radioactive zombies in a nice sweater, drinking a coffe, while eating a sandwich of home made bread out of a hand-turned wooden bowl, with a wonderfully clean shave....

Barry

Must be 1786 not 1886, Ben died in 1790.

"There's a thousand reasons why I shouldn't drink this drink, but I can't think of any of them right now".

Shemp

Originally Posted by bman40

...barbers, and of their sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull razors.

My barber doesn't provide shaves anymore, but after my last haircut, I will be taking a tin of mints on my next trip to the shop.